As we rejoined our companions, they still had guards to deal with. While those in close proximity dealt with them, those who stepped away regrouped into Teleport formation to pursue the inquisitors who had taken Dree. Once this was accomplished, the group left the remaining guards behind and pursued Dree and his captors.

Unfortunately, those captors had had a few moments to prepare a surprise for the party, as rather than arriving where they expected, they found themselves in a 20×20 room. Wilfred and Mekkatorque quickly took to the air, bringing Meroln and Squizzles along for the ride. They quickly discovered that the room was actually a shaft, 120’ in height (with a line scratched into the stone at the 100’ mark. While hovering at the 70’ mark, they felt an AOEDimensional Anchor snap into effect, followed a few moments later by a ghostly hand that penetrated the ceiling above them to deliver a Cannibal Compulsion to Mekkatorque, which caused him to drop Meroln, who then fell to the ground.

Squizzles, who was overcome with disgust at the sight of Mekkatorque’s gusto in tearing at his own flesh, decided to launch himself into flight towards the ceiling, crossing the ‘scratch’, and triggering an Anti-Magic Field which caused Mekkatorque and Wilfred to fall out of the sky, clipping the wings of Alexia, who had also been flying up to see what was going on. Mekkatorque promptly landed on Meroln, who had not yet had a chance to get out of the way.

After several minutes wasted exploring the plain mortared walls of their prison, attempting climb checks, and otherwise stumbling about, the Anti-Magic Field waned, and Elerra’s Locate spell revealed Dree to now be lying in a midden somewhere, with the top of his skull removed. While there was some debate as to whether the ritual that Dree was scheduled to carry out was truly disrupted by his death (given his captor’s obvious interest in it) the group finally decided to Teleport back to Greyhawk to regroup.

Once back in Greyhawk the party realized that it was quite possible that Dree had survived his death at the hands of his captors, as, if he truly was one of the Hierarchs as it was rumored, they had only recently been in the very repository where those worthies stored their Clones against such accidents. This also opened the possibility that Losien might also have had a Clone prepared.

Returning to the crypts to check on the Clones was debated, but since almost two weeks had passed since their visit there, it seemed likely that they had been relocated since then, and there was no telling where Losien might have hidden his, assuming he had one at all. So the group decided instead to Teleport to the underside of the Red Moon and inspect the area for signs of any preparations the followers of Dhaeros might have made there.

Arriving on the surface of the Red Moon they found themselves a but lighter, and found the air thin but breathable. The ground was covered mainly by a variety of moss, and some scrubby-looking trees were visible, all done in shades of carmine and ocher. The only not-red thing in sight was a huge white pylon, 40’ on each of it’s three sides, rising 400’ into the air. The pylon proved to be enameled, and inscribed upon it’s surface were the words “Blessed are the Seven Mothers, Blessed is the Red Moon” in every language the party knew, and many, many more besides.

An examination of the pylon’s base revealed a variety of boot prints, which eventually brought the group to a small shrine perhaps half a mile distant. Meroln also spotted what appeared to be a world not Liga, Celene, or Luna rising above the horizon. Finding nothing definitive, the group eventually decided to Teleport down to the outskirts of Glamour and from there the group made their way into the heart of the Lunar Empire.

While wandering the city looking for an inn, Sam spotted an octopus-headed humanoid kept in a too-small cage in the marketplace. Inquiring of the man who kept the animals on display there, he called the creature a walktapus and demonstrated it’s regenerative abilities by chopping off one of it’s tentacles (which promptly regrew) and then feeding pieces of that tentacle to several other animals. Sam eventually purchased a black-and-white winged kitten from the merchant before moving on.

Eventually taking rooms at the Bed & Flagon, the group spent the better part of the next day or two feverishly making Gather Information checks, trying to ascertain whether the Empire would help or hinder the Wane of Magic if they knew about it. Their travels eventually led them into a local community known as Brithette, a sort of ghetto for expatriates of the Magocracy of Brithos. To his delight, Wilfred was quickly recognized and greeted as a minor celebrity, his work with the Society and the Wane already known to the locals.

As we broke for the evening, Kaman, the local High Priest of Boccob was explaining to the group that if they wanted to pitch their story to the Emperor, the quickest route through his bureaucracy was probably through a group of elves from the Dragarean Empire, who’d come to Glamour three years back and quickly become powerful members of the Court…